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Friday, June 12, 2009

Top 10 most intriguing media stories of the past decade

The demise of newspapers: The end is coming swiftly and mercilessly for the newspaper industry, as the Web continues to transform the media.

The rise of Google, Facebook and Twitter: The social media is all-powerful now. You're as likely to view a scoop posted on Facebook as anywhere else.

The acquisition of Dow Jones: News Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS11.84, +0.03, +0.25%) accomplished the unthinkable by scooping up the company that owned The Wall Street Journal and other media platforms. While many pundits initially recoiled in horror, the "new" Journal -- both in print and online -- is a snappy, wide-ranging operation that continues to put the news first. (News Corp. is also the parent of MarketWatch, the publisher of this column.)

The Jayson Blair affair: The New York Times took a broadside hit in 2003 when Blair, a semi-anonymous young reporter, made a name for himself by making up several stories. Many Times managers didn't wise up to his scheme until the damage had been done, which was almost as troubling as his journalistic breach.

Time Warner's AO-Hell: The ballyhooed combination of Time Warner /quotes/comstock/13*!twx/quotes/nls/twx (TWX26.45, -0.04, -0.15%) and America Online, announced in 2000, had all of the excitement of a Hollywood marriage. But the promise of a melding of old and new media powerhouses quickly collapsed under the weight of bad morale, untimely market conditions and too many miscalculations to list here.

The teetering of the Times: Confirming that there are no sacred cows in a recession, the worrisome financial situation at the New York Times Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!nyt/quotes/nls/nyt (NYT6.11, -0.17, -2.71%) is nonetheless startling for observers who had suggested that the newspaper represented the Mt. Olympus of journalism.

The fall and rise of Katie Couric: When Couric left NBC's /quotes/comstock/13*!ge/quotes/nls/ge (GE13.44, -0.13, -0.95%) "Today," she was America's Sweetheart. But "perky" became a dirty word when she arrived as anchor of "The CBS Evening News." Lately, Couric has gotten high marks -- well, higher, anyway.

Omnipresent Gawker: Nick Denton's snarky brainchild has permeated all forms of the media with its wit, bite and relevance.

The Jon Stewart-Jim Cramer smackdown: Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," dressed down Jim Cramer, the loud talker from CNBC, in the wake of the financial crisis. Fair or not, Stewart accused Cramer and CNBC of failing to educate viewers and relying on show-biz flourishes instead of solid information about the Wall Street meltdown.

The closure of Portfolio: The "Gigli" of magazines was the most-hyped launch in recent publishing history. But Conde Nast's business magazine failed to bump Fortune, BusinessWeek /quotes/comstock/13*!mhp/quotes/nls/mhp (MHP31.65, -0.08, -0.25%) and Forbes out of the picture and became a poster child of the media's bitter recession.

Gawker (#8) and Portfolio (#10) on the list? Why? I couldn't tell you a thing about either one of them.

Biggest omission in Friedman's list: Dan Rather, trying to influence the 2004 presidential election, claimed newly-discovered documents belonging to Lt. Col. Killian proved Bush got preferential treatment while in the Texas Air National Guard -- but the Killian documents were forged. Rather defended the veracity of the documents long after it was obvious they were fakes. He left CBS within months.

And I'd add this one -- How the media become an extension of the Democratic Party during the 2008 to ensure Barack Obama's election....

///Oh wait, that was in an alternate universe where liberals don't control 95% of the media.///

Huh? Limbaugh alone has 20 million listeners, and the other talk radio right wingers have millions more. The networks and newspapers don't come anywhere near those figures. "Liberal" control of the media is a GOP talking point that is nonsense for anyone who knows anything about ratings and circulation.

Although talk radio has now made its way into the mainstream (mainly because of Limbaugh), it is considered ALTERNATIVE media because it gained prominence as an alternative to the MSM (as did Fox News).

Pew Research Studyhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1919999

***Although talk radio has now made its way into the mainstream (mainly because of Limbaugh), it is considered ALTERNATIVE media because it gained prominence as an alternative to the MSM (as did Fox News).***

So what's the problem? You've got the sources you trust, and we've got sources we trust.

///The only "problem" is the MSM's state of denial about it's liberal bias.//////Based on the PLUMMETING numbers of the MSM networks and newspapers, it seems that readers and viewers are choosing freely to seek out more reliable sources.///

Plummeting or not, they still attract the best "numbers," especially among people who actually want to hear and read varied viewpoints and solid reporting instead of only opinions and reporting that always makes them happy by supporting their existing views.Talk radio and bloggers "reliable"? ROFL!

****Plummeting or not, they still attract the best "numbers," especially among people who actually want to hear and read varied viewpoints and solid reporting instead of only opinions and reporting that always makes them happy by supporting their existing views.****

A variety of opinions = Mega Left, Hard Left or Crazy Left. They don't report the facts but rather a biased agenda.

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